Beacon Falls, Connecticut, has long been known as a peaceful place—but residents now fear that calm could be disrupted.
Set along the scenic Naugatuck River, the historic community is home to approximately 6,000 people.
Few locals imagined the national data-center boom would reach their small town. That changed when plans for a large-scale facility began circulating, prompting concerns that Beacon Falls could soon face sweeping development.
“People live here because it’s quiet. We didn’t move to Beacon Falls to become part of urban sprawl,” resident Sandra Listro told Our News Outlet.
Among the community’s biggest worries is the possible impact on the Naugatuck River, located only a few miles from the proposed development site.
The river was once considered one of the most polluted waterways in the United States, before an extensive cleanup and restoration campaign during the 1990s helped revive the area.
Josh James, a leading opponent of the project, told Our News Outlet that bald eagles have since returned to the river. He fears the proposed data center could threaten the birds and their habitat.
James lives in nearby Seymour and is campaigning for a seat in the state legislature representing Beacon Falls’ district.
A Connecticut developer is proposing a data center in the small community of Beacon Falls
Opposition has already appeared throughout Beacon Falls, with residents putting up signs urging officials to reject the project
Residents criticized the project brochure, which featured a sleek, shadowy glass building and an unsettling image of construction workers that appeared to be AI-generated
James raised the issue on social media after finding a public listing for the proposed facility.
The real estate company The Agency had posted an online presentation promoting the development, complete with a series of concept images that appeared to have been generated using artificial intelligence.
The renderings depicted a vast campus rising in the center of Beacon Falls. Among the images were a dark, reflective glass structure and an eerie scene featuring what appeared to be AI-generated construction workers—details that intensified local unease.
O&G Industries, which owns the property, has acknowledged that it is exploring plans for a data center. However, Beacon Falls has not yet received a formal proposal.
O&G Industries is working with The Agency to find a prospective operator for the facility should the project receive approval.
David Oneglia, O&G’s president, told Our News Outlet that the original concept called for a 100-megawatt data center. Discussions with energy provider Eversource later resulted in a smaller proposal of 32 megawatts.
The online presentation included images that appeared to be AI-generated, adding to residents’ growing concerns about the project
Josh James said bald eagles have returned to the area, fueling fears that the development could affect the population
Oneglia said the proposed data center would not be designed for artificial intelligence operations.
However, The Agency’s listing notes that the center will allow for ‘AI deployment strategies.’
‘Beacon Falls presents a rare, clean slate opportunity to develop a purpose built digital infrastructure campus across 49 acres with up to 100megawatts of utility power in place – one of the most compelling and supply constrained sites available in the Northeast,’ the listing boasts.
First Selectman Gerard F Smith told Our News Outlet that the town has not received an official proposal.
Oneglia said that once they agree to terms with Eversource on gas, they will file for permits and submit a proposal.
‘I still can’t go for the permits until Eversource agrees to give us the gas, and Eversource politically doesn’t wanna give us the gas right now. They probably will, but it certainly wouldn’t be before the election,’ he said.
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Listro told Our News Outlet that townspeople are aware of the marketing effort and widely oppose the data center. An online petition calling for the project’s halt has already generated over 2,500 signatures.
Beacon Falls is a picturesque town in the Naugatuck Valley region of CT
Residents of the community have gathered to rally against the data center
Residents have expressed concerns that the data center will ruin the town’s small community, impact the environment and cause electricity bills to skyrocket.
Rural towns nationwide have been grappling with similar issues.
A recent investigation by NJ.com, AL.com, MLive, Penn Live and Oregon Live found that despite residents opposing data centers, developers have pushed them through in many small-town communities by suing local governments.
In Lowell, Massachusetts, a few hours north of Beacon Falls, multiple advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit on behalf of residents to stop a massive data center from expanding. A court ruled in favor of the halt in August.
‘The residents up there sued to stop growth and any more data centers from being put in right now because of the effects that it’s having on the residents,’ Listro said.
‘In such a small town like Beacon Falls, what would that do to us?’
Residents have gathered for multiple community meetings to discuss the data center
Jeff Markley, the CEO of the Markley Group which operates the data center in Lowell, told Our News Outlet that ‘once the full record is before the Court, it will be clear that the previous dismissal of the appeal at issue was proper and that the Court will find in favor of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and Markley.’
Both James and Listro have attended multiple community meetings where residents have opposed the data center. James noted a bipartisan effort to block a proposal.
State Representative Nicole Klarides-Ditria called for a pause on the data center. Source: Instagram/@klaridesditria
State Representative Nicole Klarides-Ditria recently also came out against the data center, after continued calls from constituents to speak on the issue.
‘Any project with this many potential drawbacks and consequences must be fully vetted by our local government and transparently communicated to the residents of Beacon Falls before it moves forward,’ she said in a statement, before calling for a pause on new data center projects.
James said that there was ‘a real chorus’ of residents campaigning online.
Oneglia argued that a data center could cut taxes for residents of Beacon Falls by 30 to 40 per cent and protested that a data center would not affect the small-town vibe, adding that the site would see little foot traffic.
‘We’d love to build it because we’ve done fuel cell projects before. We know how to build them, and certainly we’re in the building business,’ he said.
A massive center in Lowell, Massachusetts, has prompted a lawsuit from residents
The data center in Lowell sits behind a residential neighborhood
James rejected the claimed benefits, arguing that any tax advantages would come at the townspeople’s expense.
‘This has always been a small, sleepy, quiet valley town,’ Listro said. ‘The people who live in these towns, they’ve moved there for a reason.
‘We choose to live in Oxford and Beacon Falls and Seymour because they’re the quieter of the small towns in the valley. We didn’t move here to hear a constant humming.’
Our News Outlet has reached out to Eversource, The Agency and Governor Ned Lamont’s office for comment.
